More spending and more taxes have many business groups concerned about the future after the federal government released its ambitious 2024 Budget yesterday.
“Canada must end the cycle of tax and spend politics,” Canadian Chamber of Commerce Senior Director of Fiscal and Financial Services Policy Jessica Brandon-Jepp said. “Fueling economic growth is the key to improving quality of life and affordability for Canadians.”
The national chamber network opposes any measure that increases costs for businesses currently experiencing economic headwinds. We also will work with our members to understand how the increase to capital gains tax will impact business.
“(The) budget contains few surprises. Most of the major new spending was announced by the government over the last few weeks, and the government’s projections for the deficit are largely in line with previous predictions,” Canadian Chamber CEO Perrin Beatty said. “Our lagging productivity and stalled GDP growth means Canadians are becoming collectively poorer and working harder to just remain where they are today.”
New taxes will cover about $18 billion with about $57 billion in added spending:
- Defense: $10.7B for military and equipment.
- Generational measures: $10.6B for various measures including launching the Canada Disability benefit; pharmacare; school food program and more.
- Indigenous Peoples: $9.1B including education, infrastructure, health care and policing.
- Housing: $8.5B for a wide variety of measures to address the housing crisis.
- Other: $14.1B which includes support for artificial intelligence, research, various investment tax credits (EV supply chain; clean electricity; clean tech manufacturing).
- Tax measures: $18.2B largely focused on “taxing the rich” by raising the inclusion rate on capital gains above $250k annually (from 50% to 66.6%), among other measures.
